St. Louis Suspends DEI Hire Over Missed Tornado Warning — 5 Killed, 38 Injured

A deadly EF-3 tornado that tore through St. Louis on May 16, 2025—leaving five dead, 38 injured, and over $1 billion in damages—has ignited a growing debate about the role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in public safety leadership.

The controversy centers on the failure to activate the city’s tornado sirens and the actions of the official in charge of emergency response.

At the heart of the issue is Sarah Russell, Commissioner of the St. Louis City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), who was not present at the agency’s main office during the storm. Instead, Russell was attending a workshop at 1520 Market Street, approximately half a mile from the facility where sirens are activated. City officials have not publicly disclosed the subject of the workshop.

Russell has been placed on paid administrative leave following public backlash and ongoing investigations.

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer confirmed in a press release that although the city’s tornado sirens had been successfully tested the day before the storm, they were not activated when it mattered most.

“CEMA exists, in large part, to alert the public to dangers caused by severe weather, and the office failed to do that in the most horrific and deadly storm our City has seen in my lifetime,” Spencer stated.

Spencer explained that the responsibility for siren activation had transitioned to the City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), but the standard operating procedures were outdated and poorly implemented, causing confusion about who held final authority.

The breakdown has sparked renewed scrutiny of how critical public safety positions are staffed—particularly when those roles require clarity, decisiveness, and technical expertise under pressure.

Critics argue that identity-based hiring practices promoted under DEI frameworks may deprioritize competence in favor of demographics, potentially weakening preparedness in life-and-death scenarios.

In Russell’s case, detractors have questioned whether their appointment was influenced more by DEI priorities than demonstrated qualifications in emergency management.

St. Louis city scrubs 'they/them' profile

The profile of a St. Louis city safety commissioner was scrubbed from the internet.

We found that a website profile of the commissioner was no longer available at the city's site. But a search on the Wayback Machine internet digital archive found a version of the page from March 2025.

The profile specifically lists Russell's pronouns as "They/Them" at the top of the page.

The profile goes on to list Russell's resume, including the designation: "authority on social media."

The webpage now redirects to a page of contact information for other officials at the CEMA office.

In addition, a 2024 post on the X social media platform from an account identifying itself as a city account refers to Russell as "them."